NCL Breakaway - Feb 26th Sailing - Curious, wanted advice from long time cruisers

[LongIsland-Cruiser]

Hi all.  I am not a first time cruiser, this will be my 6 or 7th.  But I wanted to get some opinions from the people that seem to take 3 or 4 a year.  

 

My husband and I wanted to take a cruise that would be a little more on the empty side (like the ones we took during Covid) and with as few kids as possible.  Our bright idea was to take a longer 13 day cruise in the off season (not during a school break).  However, it seems like we are going to have a full sailing.  Are there any timeframes that are "off season" or now that Covid is over it should just be expected that most ships will be full?  I sailed a few times during Covid and I think it warped my understanding of how cruises work.

 

Any advice or insight appreciated.  Thanks.

[GeezerCouple]

What cruiselines and ships did you sail on before, and were any before COVID?

 

Keep in mind that ships want to sail with a full house.  In addition to the cruise fare, they get money from booze, gambling, shop purchases, etc.  So they would rather fill any empty cabins toward sailing date with discounted fares rather than sail with those empty.  COVID sailings were quite different, as many people just didn't want to sail (or travel at all in many cases).  Now, there is a bit of a travel rebound... many people who didn't travel are wanting to make up for those missed trips, so capacity is likely *not* to be low.

 

Have you considered some of the smaller ships, including on other cruise lines?

Your idea of sailing when it is not a school break is a good one, for your purposes, no matter what.

We try to avoid holiday sailings these days, now that our schedules are more flexible, for similar reasons. 🙂 

 

GC

[www3traveler]

Off Season:

  After New Year's until late February

  Two weeks after Easter until mid May

  After Labor Day until the week before Thanksgiving

 

With so many kids being homeschool and with much better ship internet connections,  even the re-positioning cruises are fuller than they have been.